The Truth About Girls and Boys
by PhinalPhantasy
Summary: ONE SHOT. Done for a contest. A day in the Nara clan forest where the children of several couples are playing together goes downhill when the ancient playground argument begins: Who's better, girls or boys? ShikaTema, NaruHina, NejiTenTen, InoChou.


The Truth of Girls and Boys

By: PhinalPhantasy

(A/N: This fic is for a contest by one of my favorite artists on , RamaChan. As such, this story is not part of my series of Naruto fics and is dedicated to her. She made a series of Shikamaru/Temari pics that showed the progress of their relationship and eventually showed that they have children together. Their first child is a beautiful girl she named Hatsune. Their second child is a little boy named after Asuma. The contest is to give these children some friends who are the children of other Naruto couples: Two girls the same age as Hatsune and a boy the same age as Asuma. I get to decide the names, personalities, and the parents of these new young characters. Whether I win or not, I hope that I have at least written a quality fic that my readers can enjoy.)

(Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. The characters of Nara Hatsune and Nara Asuma are RamaChan's OCs. The other characters being introduced in this story are my OCs.)

It was a peaceful day in Konoha, the village had finally recovered from the damage from the war against the Akatsuki and was going well…as such several of the village's Jonin were taking this opportunity to relax and spend some time together with their friends. However when a shinobi relaxes their guard, trouble is sure to find them. In the forest of the Nara clan, a major incident is about to occur in the lives of eight of Konoha's best, including the Hokage himself…

"The Desert Palace is ready!" the voice of a young girl sounded. There was a large house sitting on top of a high desert dune. Coming from the door was someone who looked very similar to Temari of the Sand, however she appeared to be too tall…and there was a large chubby hand wrapped around it, "Come on out Butler Ken!" the voice sounded. Coming out of the Desert Palace was a blond man with a wide grin on his face dressed in a tuxedo. He also had a large chubby hand wrapped around him, "Desert Princess Barbie! I am not worthy to serve you! I mess up too much!" the voice took on a bad sounding imitation of a British accent.

"I know and Desert Princess Barbie has a new rule! No boys allowed!" and the hand holding Desert Princess Barbie moved quickly to carry her next to Butler Ken and then swiftly the hand moved to make Desert Princess Barbie knock Butler Ken so far away he left the desert and landed on the ground covered in leaves, "And why are boys not allowed?" the voice asked.

"Cause Barbies more powerful than Kens!" a chorus of other young girls said and all three laughed. Turns out the "Desert Palace" is a large doll house sitting on top of a sandbox and three little girls gathered around it, all 6 years old. The girl holding "Desert Princess Barbie" and who kicked poor unfortunate "Butler Ken" was smiling, her bright teeth and green eyes a contrast to her black hair that she had tied in a ponytail. She was wearing blue jeans, a pink T-shirt, and white sneakers; and she had her free hand make the "V for victory" sign.

"That was a nice kick Hatsune-chan! Look how far Butler Ken went flying!" another little girl cheered. She too had pure black hair; however it was tied in twin "cinnabuns" on the sides of her head. Her hair and the white Chinese-style outfit she wore would have made her look like a miniature version of her mother with one difference: her eyes were definitely like her father's, pure white. "There's no way he'll be back to bother the party at the Desert Palace."

"Thanks Houka-chan," Hatsune replied to her friend.

"So…umm…what do we do next?" the third girl asked shyly. She had bright red hair and wore it loose. For a six-year-old, it was pretty long, going down to just above her waist. She had bright blue eyes and wore a beach hat with a light blue ribbon tied around it, a sundress the same color as the ribbon, and had tan colored sandals for her feet.

"We invite the others to the party of course, Hana-chan," Hatsune replied with a smile. She picked up Desert Princess Barbie and moved her arms so they were high in the air, "I'm throwing a party for all Barbies at the Desert Palace! No Kens allowed!"

"Hurray!" Houka said taking out her Barbie which was dressed in a miniature version of a Konoha kunoichi outfit, complete with the vest. She also took out her Ken, which was a Konoha standard shinobi outfit. He notably didn't have a Chunin vest on, "Okay Genin Ken! I am going to the Desert Palace. You know what you have to do," Houka talked for her doll. "Yes I know Jonin Barbie. Train train train," Houka did a deeper voice for her Ken, "That's right. And why do you need to train?"

"Cause Barbies more powerful than Kens!" all three girls said at once, giggling again. Houka took her Barbie and had her "walk" from the miniature training ground set to the sandbox where the Desert Palace awaited.

"Now it's your turn, Hana-chan," Hatsune smiled at her friend.

"Yeah teach your Ken that your Barbie is stronger," Houka said enthusiastically.

"Umm….okay," Hana said.

"You don't need to shy. We're your friends," Hatsune said encouragingly, "We like playing with you."

Houka nodded, "Yeah so no need to hold back."

"Okay…here goes," Hana cleared her little throat and took out her Barbie that was dressed in a silver colored chef's outfit, "Kitchen Boy Ken!" she called out. She brought out her Ken from behind the miniature kitchen set she brought with her, "Yes Iron Chef Barbie," Hana said in a deep voice, "I'm going to Desert Princess Barbie's party at the Desert Palace. You have to stay here and clean the kitchen. And do you know why you have to clean the kitchen?"

"Cause Barbies more powerful than Kens!" They all called out at once laughing once again. Hana took her Barbie and "walked" her to the party at the Desert Palace.

XXX

Meanwhile there was a pair of even younger boys playing not too far from the sandbox. They had small targets set up and were throwing their Nerf Kunai at them.

"Bulls-eye!" the first boy said as he hit his target. He had short blonde hair and wore a black T-shirt with a green vest jacket to imitate his father's look, but he also had blue jeans and black sneakers.

"Good shot Asuma-kun," the second boy said with a wide close-eyed grin on his face, "First bulls-eye today," he had light blue spiky hair and wore a set of goggles on his head. He also wore a purple T-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers with orange Konoha symbols on the sides of them.

"Thanks Minato-kun," Asuma replied to his friend, "Keep smiling and you won't hit anything, cause your eyes are always closed when you do."

"Oh okay," Minato replied opening his eyes, which like Houka's were pure white.

"_Now_ you can throw good," Asuma said, nodding.

"Yeah yeah," Minato replied, throwing his Nerf Kunai at the target, "Aww no bulls-eye."

"You hit the target this time," Asuma replied, "That's better than last time." Minato just stuck his tongue at him.

"Yeah yeah," Asuma said, "My turn." As he threw his Nerf Kunai at their target, he heard the girls loud chorus of "Cause Barbies more powerful than Kens!" and it distracted him and he didn't even hit the target.

"Ha ha," Minato laughed, "You missed!"

"It's the girls' fault," Asuma replied, "They're loud."

"My turn," Minato grinned and got ready to toss another Nerf Kunai at the target but this time it was him that heard the mocking theme of the girls' game and his kunai hit Asuma by accident.

"Hey!" he said.

"It's the girls' fault. You're right. They're loud!" Minato replied.

"And a drag!" Asuma added.

"They get one more chance and then…we get 'em," Minato said determinedly.

"Okay," Asuma agreed, "Now let's try to get each other with our kunai."

"Sure," Minato replied with a grin.

"Chance!" Asuma threw his kunai at Minato while his eyes were closed and got him right on the forehead, "gotcha!"

"No fair I had my eyes closed," Minato replied.

"Toldya not to," Asuma grinned at his friend and a Nerf Kunai came at him and hit his cheek.

"That's 1-1!" Minato said with a smile.

"That's it!" Asuma threw two kunai at Minato but then they heard the one thing they hated.

"Cause Barbies more powerful than Kens!" followed by the laughter that was mocking them as boys.

"That's it, I'm pulling a trick!" Minato said, "Watch this," he threw his Nerf Kunai and for once hit on his target, right in the doorway of the Desert Palace blocking it, "Boys more powerful than girls!" he shouted.

"Girls are a drag!" Asuma threw his own Nerf Kunai at the girls and then both boys decided to start tossing all their remaining ones at the trio who were screaming and waving their hands to try to not let them hit on the face. Pretty soon the boys were out of their toys but they saw Hana looking at them with tears in her eyes.

"You boys are mean!" she yelled and then started crying.

"That does it," Houka said gathering all the Nerf Kunai she could, "You're not getting these back."

"Yeah. You made Hana-chan cry!" Hatsune yelled at them.

"Girls are too loud!" Minato shouted, "And Barbies are stupid!"

"Nerfs are stupid cause they hurt!" Hana cried.

"Nerfs don't hurt…you baby!" Asuma shouted.

"I am not a baby!" Hana said, "You're just a stupid boy!"

"You're a stupid girl!" Minato shouted. Pretty soon all they were shouting at each other were reasons boys were better than girls and vice versa…

XXX

Meanwhile, the parents of these children were sitting at benches set up in the forest enjoying the day.

"Ah this is the life," Shikamaru said, "Hanging out with your wife and your friends while the kids play."

"Yeah and if we didn't go to the forest, you and Chouji would be staring at clouds all day instead of paying attention to us," Temari joked and Ino laughed lightly.

"Well we haven't done that in a while," Shikamaru pointed out, "But I'll admit that this forest is just as relaxing sometimes."

"It's hard to believe that our kids are growing up so fast," Ino added, "It seems not too long ago we were just dating, huh Chouji," she winked at her husband

Chouji blushed slightly, "Well to me it seemed longer. It took me _forever_ to convince you to go out with me if you remember."

"Well I was an idiot back then," Ino admitted, "I was more concerned about what was on the outside of people than what was on the inside."

"And what was on the inside when you finally looked at me?" Chouji prompted.

"Well…that underneath your 'big boned' body was an even bigger heart," she said affectionately and kissed him on the cheek, "And you know the only regret I have is that I didn't see it sooner. I'm glad we're married and that we have such a beautiful little girl. Inside and out."

"Yeah Hana-chan's definitely got me wrapped around her little finger just like her mother," Chouji smiled, "The only thing I'm worried about is that she has been very shy lately."

"There's no need to worry about that. Not when she has our Houka-chan as her friend," Neji smiled a bit. He had an arm around TenTen and pulled her close, "She won't _let_ anyone be shy around her. She's definitely her mother's daughter." Turning to TenTen he smiled, "She's just like you, you know. She even _dresses_ like you."

"Aww don't worry Neji-kun," TenTen smiled back at her husband, "she loves you too you know." Neji kissed her softly on the lips and put his hand on his wife's belly, which was showing the signs that their Houka-chan is about to be a big sister.

"I know that. I just hope that our next little one will want to be more like daddy," Neji replied in a rare moment of sensitivity.

"Who would've thought that Hyuga Neji would make such a loving father," Shikamaru joked.

"Hey, I was just waiting until the time was right," Neji said in defense, "So what if I married TenTen earlier than you and Temari-san? It wouldn't have been right for us to have children until Hokage-sama made his proclamation," with that he turned to Naruto, "And TenTen and I can never thank you enough for it." TenTen nodded and smiled enthusiastically causing the Hokage to blush a little.

"Aww you're welcome guys," Naruto smiled like he was a kid again, "I made you that promise years ago Neji. I did it for both you and Hinata-chan. I saw what that stupid tradition did to you two. The pain you both were in because the Hyuga family thought it was a good idea to separate itself into a 'main family' and 'branch family.' As someone who grew up without a family and so desperately wanted one, I just knew it was wrong. That's why one of the first things I did when I was appointed Hokage was to end that 'main family' and 'branch family' nonsense."

"And thanks to that, Neji now wants a big family. Houka-chan is the first of the Hyuga clan to be born without having to worry about the pain of the family being split like that and now her little sibling is on the way," TenTen smiled at the Hokage.

"And don't forget our little Minato-kun," Hinata smiled, "he's got an older cousin he can look up to without worry even though he's technically an Uzumaki instead of a Hyuga," she turned to Naruto, "And I'm not worried about him at all. He's just like his father, always cheerful and he loves his friends."

"Well I think he's better off than I ever was. He has the one thing I lacked as a kid, a loving family," Naruto replied kissing his wife on the lips.

"Well that's not entirely true Naruto," Shikamaru said, "Aren't we your family?" he asked, referring to all of their friends.

Naruto nodded, "Yes. I know what you're saying Shikamaru but in my case it took over 12 years for me to get that family. Minato-kun has had a family since birth and hasn't known loneliness and I hope he'll never have to."

"So out of curiosity, why did you and Hinata-chan wait so long before having him?" Temari asked.

"Well, not to sound like Neji, but I wanted to wait till the time was right. Hinata-chan and I got married soon after I was appointed Hokage. I wanted to make sure I could handle the pressures of being both the husband Hinata deserves and the Hokage Konoha deserves before I tried my hand at being the father my child deserves," Naruto replied.

"Well if you ask me, the wait was well worth it, Naruto-kun. You're a great Hokage and the best husband and father," Hinata smiled at him. Just then they were interrupted by the shouting match of their various children.

"Uh oh…time to show if I'm really as good as my wife says," Naruto joked. All of the parents went over and saw that Hana was in tears while Hatsune and Houka were yelling at Asuma and Minato.

"Girls are better than boys! Girls don't make boys cry like you made Hana-chan cry!" Hatsune said.

"Nuh uh!" Asuma replied, "You've made me cry before. Boys are better!"

"Yeah!" Minato added, "The Hokages were all boys!"

"No stupid there was a girl Hokage once!" Houka yelled.

"But there were still more boy Hokages!" Minato replied.

"That's not important. You have to apologize for making Hana-chan cry and say that girls are better," Hatsune said.

"What's going on here, Hatsune-chan?" Temari said with her "mommy voice."

"Hana-chan, what happened," Chouji asked more gently, bending down to be on his daughter's level, Ino doing the same.

"Houka-chan. Why do you have Asuma-kun's and Minato-kun's toys?" Neji asked sternly looking down at his daughter with TenTen next to him.

"Did you make your friend cry Asuma-kun?" Shikamaru said disapprovingly.

"She's not my friend. She's a drag!"

"I wonder where he learned that," Temari muttered.

"Minato-kun. Tell us honestly what happened and I promise your Kaa-san and Tou-san won't yell at you," Hinata said with Naruto bending down to look his son in the eyes.

"It's all the girls' fault. They were too loud and kept saying stupid stuff about girls being better than boys," Minato said.

"They threw their kunai at us!" Hana-chan said sniffling and holding on to her father's arm, "That's why they're mean and girls are nice."

"Yeah that's why I took their kunai," Houka said looking at her mother.

"Is this true Minato-kun?" Naruto looked at his son.

"They were too loud!" Minato replied as if that was all the explanation he needed, "Right Asuma-kun."

"Yeah. We can't practice with them saying stuff like that so we had to get 'em."

"If they were too loud, you should've asked them to keep it down, not throw your kunai at them," Naruto scolded.

"But Tou-san!"

"Listen to your Tou-san, Minato-kun."

"I think the boys should apologize," Ino said.

"I agree," TenTen nodded. All of the ladies nodded at the two boys.

"Yeah and they have to say girls are better," Houka said.

"No they don't," Neji said, "Just apologize."

"Aww Tou-san make 'em say it," Houka said.

"No because it's not true," Neji replied.

"Yeah! Boys are better! Make 'em say that Tou-san," Minato said, "You're the Hokage you can do it!"

"Sorry Minato-kun, but I won't do that," Naruto replied, "because it's not true."

"But girls have _got _to be better," Hatsune said.

"No boys," Asuma replied.

"Enough of this," Temari said, "Boys and girls are equal. It's wrong to say boys are better than girls and girls are better than boys. Understand?" she said to her two children, "If I thought I was better than your Tou-san, he wouldn't've loved me and if he thought he was better than me I wouldn't've loved him. Then you and Asuma-kun wouldn't be here to argue about it. Your Tou-san and I are equal partners and that's the way it should be."

"Is that true?" Hana asked her parents.

"Of course it is," Chouji replied with a smile, wiping his daughter's tears, "Now if you just stop this 'girls are better than boys' nonsense, you'll have more friends."

"Listen to your Tou-san, Hana-chan," Ino smiled at her, "What he says makes a lot of sense."

"Don't you think you're better than Tou-san, Kaa-san?" Houka asked her mother causing Neji to smirk slightly while he waited for his wife to reply

"Of course I don't," TenTen replied hastily, "I love your Tou-san very much. I don't think I'm better than him. Shame on you for thinking that."

"Now Minato-kun," Hinata smiled, "do you honestly think your Tou-san thinks he's better than me because he's a boy?"

The child looked in thought for a moment at his parents, "I guess not. Tou-san really loves you right?"

"Yep!" Naruto replied with a smile, "And there can't be the kind of love your Kaa-san and I have if I thought I was better than her or she thought she was better than me. So what are you going to do now?"

Minato walked over to the girls, "I'm sorry I made you cry," he said to Hana, "I'm sorry I threw the kunais at you," he looked at all three of them. Shikamaru pushed Asuma over next to Minato.

"I'm sorry too," Asuma said, "Can we have our Nerf Kunai back now?" he asked Houka who looked at her parents.

"It's not right to keep their toys any longer. They've learned their lesson," Neji said.

"Think about how you'd feel if someone took your toys," TenTen said, "You've got to be nice to people if you want them to be nice to you."

"Oh okay," Houka sighed and handed Asuma and Minato their Nerf Kunai.

"Now what did we learn children?" Naruto asked everyone.

"Girls aren't better than boys and boys aren't better than girls," all of the kids said at once.

"Good. Now let's go home for the day," Naruto replied. As the parents took their children by the hand and walked out of the Nara forest, each of the couples were looking at each other with affection and whispering to each other.

"You did a great job Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. I was just saying the truth," Naruto replied kissing his wife softly.

"So just between you and me," Neji said to TenTen, "Did your really mean what you said back there?"

"What that Houka-chan needs to be nicer?" TenTen asked.

"About you not thinking you're better than me," Neji said.

"Aww you know the answer to that," TenTen teased him and followed up with a short but passionate kiss.

"Chouji," Ino whispered to her husband, "Thank you."

"For what?" Chouji asked.

"For a couple of years ago when you taught me the lesson I just taught our daughter," Ino leaned in and kissed him.

"You handled that pretty well Temari," Shikamaru smiled at his wife, "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd admit we're equal partners."

"Well, for being such a lazy crybaby you at least try to do your part once in a while. You're just lucky I'm willing to pick up your slack from time to time," Temari joked.

"Oh I'm lazy huh?" Shikamaru smiled and kissed his wife briefly but with enough passion to demonstrate how not lazy he was. Without realizing it, the parents stopped in their tracks and each couple started to kiss with a little more feeling, partially to show their kids how equal they are.

"Eww," Asuma whined.

"Yuck," Hatsune stuck her tongue out.

"No kissing!" Minato said.

"Gross," Houka said closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"Ugh!" Hana quickly turned away. But as soon as this horror for the children began it was over as their parents took their hands and walked with them again. Even if they didn't agree on whether or not boys or girls were better, they did agree on one thing. There was nothing grosser than watching your parents kiss!

THE END

(A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this one shot. Took longer than I thought to finish it, but I think it was worth it. Please leave me some reviews to let me know what you think and wish me luck in RamaChan's contest! If you want to check out her awesome art look up ramachan(dot)deviantart(dot)com. It will be well worth it, especially for Shikamaru/Temari fans)


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